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The most innovative beauty products of the year 2010 offer brand-new ways to get smoother skin, fuller hair, and a better complexion. Living Proof Full Thickening Mousse Living Proof Full Thickening Mousse $19.50, QVC.com There's a whole new approach to adding oomph to your hair. Most volumizing products try to hold hair off the scalp with a gluelike ingredient...that falls apart in wind or when you so much as touch it with a brush. This mousse instead contains a flexible polymer (the company worked with MIT researchers to create it) that adds volume through the length of the hair and stays effective—through mussing and fussing—until the next time you shampoo. "The polymer is superflexible, so it gives volume without feeling sticky," says Jim Hammer, a cosmetic chemist. Advanced Home Actives Brazilian Peel Professional Strength Facial Treatment Advanced Home Actives Brazilian Peel Professional Strength Facial Treatment Starting at $78, Sephor...

In the past two weeks, the Indianapolis Colts have been called for penalties for leverage and illegal batting. On Thursday night, the Colts drew their strangest penalty yet: Disconcerting signals? What was Antonio Johnson (notes) doing on the line of scrimmage; dating someone for six years and then not proposing? Making loud noises with a shovel at night? I can see how barking out signals while on the defensive line would be a penalty, but what exactly makes said signals disconcerting? Instead of yelling snap counts to confuse the Titans offensive line, was Johnson yelling things like "by the time we're 60, there won't be any social security!" [ Rewind: Golfer gives up PGA win by calling his own penalty ] Between leverage, illegal batting and disconcerting signals, it sounds like the Colts are being charged with the same RICO statutes as John Gotti.  Other popular Sports stories on Yahoo!: • NFL team plans travel to catch Broadway show • Woman in Bre...

Many past "American Idol" contestants have milked personal sob stories to increase their likability factor, but during Season 9, runner-up Crystal Bowersox only needed to rely on her immense talent to get all the way to the finale. She kept much of her personal life tightly under wraps during the show, but still, viewers couldn't help but detect a depth of pain and hard-won life experience behind her quiet, steely exterior. "I didn't tell [the Idol producers] a lot of my story. I didn't want to be like, 'Oh, wah wah, look at me,'" the resilient single mother explained. "But I have a million stories of digging through garbage cans for food and sleeping on park benches...When my son was born, he slept in a Moses basket on my nightstand. I didn't have money for a bassinet and all that...But he had love, constant love, and now he has all the fancy little things that make life fun. He's getting a racecar bed for Christmas!...

How to read the subtext in your movements—and in those of others.   Every Move You Make Every last gesture—whether it’s a tilt of the head or plain fidgeting—tells a story. Do you look down when you speak? Play with your hair? Lean to one side? Learn what you’re telling others with your body language—and what others are telling you with theirs. And don't miss: 18 Phrases You Should Never Say How to Be a Good Holiday Guest What Does Your Handwriting Say About You? The Big Rules of Small Talk  How to Read Faces Brushing Hair Off Your Face This movement, a combination of nerves and flirtation, helps call attention to and frame your feminine assets (think face and neck). No wonder it’s a staple of a promising date. Smiling Botox be damned! The only real smile, says Anita Barbee, a professor of social work at the University of Louisville, in Kentucky, is one in which eye muscles are engaged. People who grin for more than five seconds and only with their ...

Leftover Halloween candy , Thanksgiving dinner, holiday sweets—with so much delicious food floating around this time of year, who wants to think about dieting? Not me! Trouble is, this is exactly the time of year we undo all that hard work we did to get fit last spring and summer: Americans gain (on average) a pound during the holidays each year, according to the National Institutes of Health—which may not seem like a lot, except we also tend to hang on to those yearly pounds, and they can add up (10 pounds in a decade!). Here's the good news: Enjoying more of certain foods and drinks can actually help speed weight loss by boosting metabolism! And we're not just talking about celery and carrots (although those are good). Cheese, at least in small doses, could help fend off holiday heaviness—not to mention make your taste buds very happy. Try adding a few of these satisfying fat-burning snacks and sips to your daily intake and enjoy season's eatings without the stubbor...

Luxury items from big-name brands are ultra-popular  holiday gifts, but with so many impostors out there, it's extra important to be sure you're buying the real thing. Shopping online places greater distance between you and your purchase (which allows serious room for scams), but these days it's even tricky to spot a counterfeit item in person. The online consumer site SiteJabber has put together a list of the top 10 counterfeit items and brands for the holiday season. If you're looking to buy any of the goods listed below, you'll want to be extra careful about where you buy the item and examine it closely or check the store's return policy before you commit. Behold! The top 10 most counterfeited items of 2010: UGGs Coach handbags and leather items Tiffany's Athletic jerseys Perfume Nike sneakers (especially Air Yeezy and Air Jordans) Ed Hardy and Juicy brands Watches (like Rolex, Omega, and Tag Heuer) North Face DVDs (especially box se...

Retirees will no longer be able to get an interest-free loan from the Social Security trust fund, the Social Security Administration announced today. Effective on December 8, retirees will not be able to pay back benefits already received in exchange for higher Social Security payments going forward. Here's a look at how the new Social Security rules could impact your checks. Free Loans Eliminated Little-known provisions of Social Security law previously allowed individuals to begin payments at age 62, pay back all the benefits received at age 70 without interest, and then reclaim at a higher rate due to delayed claiming. However, this claiming strategy, which is employed primarily by affluent households, costs the federal government and Social Security trust fund money. "The processing of these withdrawal applications is also a poor use of the agency's limited administrative resources in a time of fiscal austerity -- resources that could be better used to s...

Tony Stark is a brilliant inventor who built a suit of armor to become a mechanized warrior. Bruce Banner is a gifted scientist whose experiments turned him into a hulking monster. Peter Parker is a high school student given amazing powers by a spider bite. But Thor , Marvel's latest big-screen superhero, is a god. Inspired by Norse mythology, Thor was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby in 1962. Now, the character is finally coming to the big screen from Marvel Studios, the same company that made the hugely successful "Iron Man" movies. The studio's grand idea is that both the Thor and Iron Man exist in the same universe, and that eventually they will team up with Hulk and Captain America in "The Avengers." But how will Thor's mythological gods and monsters match up with Iron Man's high-tech (and more realistic) world? Get the first look at Thor (played by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth ) bringing the hammer down ...

BILLINGS , Mont. – After spending much of the last century in storage, the only U.S. flag not captured or lost during Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn sold at auction Friday for $2.2 million. The buyer was identified by the New York auction house Sotheby's as an American private collector. Frayed, torn, and with possible bloodstains, the flag from one of America's hallmark military engagements had been valued before its sale at up to $5 million. The 7th U.S. Cavalry flag — known as a "guidon" and with a distinctive swallow-tailed shape — had been the property of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The museum paid just $54 for it in 1895. "We'll be using the (auction) proceeds to strengthen our collection of Native American art , which has a rather nice irony to it I think," said the museum's director, Graham Beal. On June 25, 1876, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and more than 200 troopers and scouts...

Veiled beneath the Persian Gulf, a once-fertile landmass may have supported some of the earliest humans outside Africa some 75,000 to 100,000 years ago, a new review of research suggests. At its peak, the floodplain now below the Gulf would have been about the size of Great Britain, and then shrank as water began to flood the area. Then, about 8,000 years ago, the land would have been swallowed up by the Indian Ocean, the review scientist said. The study, which is detailed in the December issue of the journal Current Anthropology, has broad implications for aspects of human history. For instance, scientists have debated over when early modern humans exited Africa , with dates as early as 125,000 years ago and as recent as 60,000 years ago (the more recent date is the currently accepted paradigm), according to study researcher Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. "I think Jeff's theory is bold and imaginative, and hopefully will shake t...

Hoping to protect the local tourism industry over July 4, the beach resort's mayor initially downplays the danger of shark attacks - but is forced to bring in a marine biologist and a shark hunter when things turn really ugly. That was the story line in Jaws , Steven Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster movie, and a similar scenario is currently being played out in real life at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. It began 10 days ago when the normally pristine tropical waters turned a murky red, after sharks mauled three Russians and a Ukrainian over a two-day period. With the world-renowned snorkel and dive center heading into the holiday high season, local governor Mohammed Shosha closed off the beaches for 48 hours, during which time the authorities killed two sharks. He then declared the all clear and reopened the beaches. But within 24 hours, in keeping with the Jaws story line, it became brutally clear that Shosha had been wrong: a German woman standing ...

' How Do You Know' Price Tag: $120 Million, $50 Million Just for Talent Oscar-winning filmmaker James L. Brooks doesn’t work often, and he doesn’t work fast. And when he does work, he commands a budget as jaw-dropping as his history of brilliant work ( Terms of Endearment , Broadcast News ). When many studios are shying away from star-driven adult dramedies, Sony lavished a budget on Brooks’ How Do You Know that even has talent reps with clients in the movie marveling. STORY: How much TV stars earn THR has learned that the film, which centers on a love triangle, cost $120 million to make, though the studio drove that down to about $100 million thanks to tax rebates from Pennsylvania and D.C. One reason for the price tag is old-fashioned salaries for the pic’s talent: Reese Witherspoon ($15 million), Jack Nicholson ($12 million), Owen Wilson ($10 million) and Paul Rudd ($3 million) received their quotes, and Brooks will earn about $10 million plus backend for ...

Is a traditional hotel room with four walls too…square? For the third year running, here are our picks for the world's weirdest hotels. Book a room to sleep in a pod, live like a hamster, or get chauffeured by an elephant. Hotel Kakslauttanen, Finland The snow igloos here are cool (pun intended), but what really caught our eye were the futuristic glass igloos, which guarantee unrestricted views of the aurora borealis from the comfort of your zebra-striped bed; the phenomenon turns the night sky dazzling shades of green, red, and blue from late August to April. (The special thermal glass doesn't frost over—even if outdoor temperatures drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius.) Staff supply wool socks and down sleeping bags for guests who opt for one of the 12 "real" igloos, where the interior temperature hovers between 21 and 27 degrees Fahrenheit. If you get cold feet, the property also features more conventional accommodations like wood cabins. Hotel Kaksla...